23-year old Minneapolis native Austin Plaine will be releasing his self-title debut album on Washington Square/Razor & Tie this September 11th.
You can currently preview his song "Houston" on Soundcloud:

If you listen to it, a simple message about going back to Houston, Texas, is told in a way that paints this great picture about packing his bags, riding on the railway lines, crossing that county line, and thinking of a girl. Without declaring it, there's a hint of sadness, regret, and the feeling of loneliness on that long road.

Obviously being from Minnesota, Plaine is heavily influenced by Bob Dylan (who isn't?), but his songwriting suggests other heartfelt storytellers, like Conor Oberst and even Bruce Springsteen.

Listen for the first official single "Never Come Back Again" will hit Triple A and Americana radio on August 24th.

I am told that Austin Plaine will announce touring plans soon, in the meantime, he is playing a free show at Rockwood Music Hall Stage 2 in New York on August 12th.

Minneapolis-based Carroll's self-titled LP is coming out September 18th via Entertainment One Music. You can preview "Alligator" from the forthcoming album now.

Hear the song now:

The secret origin of the band came about in 2011 when college classmate Brian Hurlow and Charlie Rudoy teamed up for writing music and the pair moved to St. Paul's Carroll Avenue, tucked neatly in between Summit Hill and the Mississippi River.

After recruiting Max Kulicke and Charles McClung, they decided to named themselves after the street name.... solidifying themselves with other street-named bands like Cedar Avenue, Lake Avenue, The 8th Street Band, Sleater-Kinney, The E Street Band, and Backstreet Boys.

Saturday, 15 November 2014

Here are some shows taking place in Minneapolis/St Paul on Friday, November 28 - November 30, 2014.
Please note that November 27th is Thanksgiving, but as a bonus, I've included two shows for November 29th.

In advance of a transcontinental North American tour co-headlining with Ty Segall, Thee Oh Sees will play at the Hopscotch Music Festival in Raleigh, North Carolina. They take the late slot at the Contemporary Art Museum on
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Lydia Loveless stopped by the 7th Street in Minneapolis last night, April 24th, as part of her tour in support of Somewhere Else, out now on Bloodshot Records. Turnout to this 7th Street Entry show was incredibly good …

Columbus' Lydia Loveless is back in town... and opening up for her will once again be The Sudden Lovelys. This was the exact same billing when we saw the two bands together earlier this April 2014!

If it is anything like her last appearance, she has a strong support from local (Minneapolis) fans. This upcoming show at the Turf Club should be just as crowded, especially now that the Turf got an upgrade last year, making it cleaner walls and improved bathrooms.

Brave and Alive

Loveless' is currently on tour in support of her latest album Somewhere Else, out now on Bloodshot Records.
The Sudden Lovelys' latest Brave and Alive is also out now.

Minneapolis’ most beloved noise pop organization BNLX smashes an uncharacteristically lengthy period of silence with the new “Flextime” EP and an accompanying all-star release party organized with the legendary dance club Transmission.

The new EP (#9 in the BNLX EP series for those of you counting!) ... To celebrate the new EP, we’re throwing a massive Thanksgiving weekend party at the Varsity Theater on Saturday 11/29 in conjunction with our Transmission friends and a truly awesome collection of bands.

Home Free, winners of Season four of NBC’s The Sing Off, are bringing their uplifting and inventive vocal style to Christmas – unveiling a new holiday album titled Full Of Cheer, that will be released
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Home Free are currently on tour for their Christmas album Full Of Cheer, out now on Columbia Records.

For those late to the party, Home Free is an American a cappella group of five vocalists: Austin Brown, Rob Lundquist, Chris Rupp, Tim Foust and Adam Rupp. The group won Season Four of NBC's The Sing Off (2013), and now using their winnings to tour the country. Incidentally, all members are well seasoned, having performed together since 2000, when they were all in their teens.

Home Free's Holiday tour kicks off on November 30th at the Fitzgerald Theatre in St. Paul at 2pm (note time). The tour will run until December 22nd in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.

Tuesday, 23 September 2014

This is like Christmas Day at your local independent Record Store for serious (mostly vinyl) collectors. This seventh annual celebration has grown larger every year …

The second annual Cassette Store Day is taking place this Saturday, September 27th.

Obviously, the whole CSD was inspired by the success of Record Store Day, but I do not believe the two are associated in anyway. The CSD movement started in the UK last year with only about 28 record shops selling about 50 CSD exclusive tapes. This year: over 200 shops are participating and over 300 exclusive CSD tapes are being released for the second Cassette Store Day! The growth is just insane.

Personally, I think vinyl are fine, but I never really understood the cassette thing. I've had such bad experiences with my player eating the tape or the magnetic strip goes bad (via magnets or corrosions). The only thing I like about cassettes are the small size and how good it feels in the hand.

Covering music for the past eight years, of course, I have noticed the steady rise cassettes at live shows. It was all questionable if it was truly popular, until you hear that more and more cassette-only albums were selling out ... and labels like Burger Records were making money on cassettes.

If you live in Minnesota, only two stores are participating this year:

MINNESOTA
• F*** Knights/Mary Allen & the Percolators split tape release listening party - Caffetto Coffee House, W. 22nd St., Minneapolis, MN 55405 — TIME: 6:30am-1am (During open hours, the tape will get played in the coffeeshop sound system every hour at the top of the hour, all day long…) — COST: $Free! — SALE: Split Cassettes are sold at $2 per tape — LINK: facebook.com